Christian Slater's Taking a Second Shot at "Breaking In" a TV Hit

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Christian Slater’s got a second chance at breaking in with the TV audience.

Slater’s comedy “Breaking In” – which he plays the head of a high-tech security firm staffed by an off-kilter crew of geniuses and ex-theives who test security systems for anxious clients – bowed on Fox last April for a seven-episode stint, but its on-the-bubble ratings led to cancellation – and then a surprise renewal just two days later. Slater tells PopcornBiz about the show’s unexpected return, this time with its own form of security: guaranteed laugh-getter Megan Mullally.

On the surprise renewal of the series:

I just decided to relocate to Miami, so typically that's usually how things happen: as soon as you move away from the place where they're actually going to shoot the show, that's when they decide to bring it back, which I thought was adorable. I was super-grateful, super-thrilled, and I really was extraordinarily passionate about it. I was incredibly surprised. Because I'd done a few shows before, I kind of felt like Goldilocks, you know: trying on different outfits and different places, like NBC was just a little too this, and ABC was just a little too that, and FOX felt just right, and it was all going along great. Now I've kind of determined that I'm a little bit more like Tinkerbell. It's like when Tinkerbell was dying and Peter Pan was like saying "Do you believe in fairies? Do you believe in fairies?" And everybody in the audience was like, "Yes, I do believe. I do believe." And that's sort of how I feel about the show.

On taking the show to the next level for Season Two:

I know that FOX has no problem with the humorous elements of the show. They're totally into that. It's all good. We've got a great cast, and now I think the foundation and the chemistry is there and we really need to get more invested in the characters and who they really are. I think make Oz a little bit less of a puppet master and little bit more of a human being, an identifiable human being. Last year he was so sort of supernatural in way, and always knew what the outcomes were going to be. That gets a little bit predictable. So now that Megan Mullally is there, we've got a good foil so the idea is to just have a nice face off with each other.

On how quickly the chemistry clicked with Mullally:

Really from the moment that she sat down, honest to God. I just loved her. She's great. She's a wonderful actress. She brings so much to it that I just sat back and started kind of rolling as she was making all the jokes. She just has great instincts.

On why he hopes audiences embrace “Breaking In” the second time around:

To get this opportunity, for me to have the network give us this opportunity to be able to come back and give us 13 episodes to continue to zig and zag with the characters is like a dream come true. The bottom line is, man, that I want to be on a show long enough to the point where I'm like, 'Get me out of here.' I would like to have that just to see how it feels. I want that experience. Is that so much to ask?